Head to head · Boys' names
Peter vs Rhett
#187 vs #188 in 2025
Peter is a whisker ahead (#187 vs #188 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Peter is holding its place on the charts, Rhett is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Peter leads 6 measures of 6; Rhett leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Peter #38, Rhett — — Peter higher
- 1890s: Peter #50, Rhett — — Peter higher
- 1900s: Peter #58, Rhett — — Peter higher
- 1910s: Peter #51, Rhett #3981 — Peter higher
- 1920s: Peter #58, Rhett #4263 — Peter higher
- 1930s: Peter #56, Rhett #2873 — Peter higher
- 1940s: Peter #39, Rhett #1516 — Peter higher
- 1950s: Peter #38, Rhett #1093 — Peter higher
- 1960s: Peter #41, Rhett #779 — Peter higher
- 1970s: Peter #51, Rhett #675 — Peter higher
- 1980s: Peter #60, Rhett #742 — Peter higher
- 1990s: Peter #90, Rhett #731 — Peter higher
- 2000s: Peter #156, Rhett #689 — Peter higher
- 2010s: Peter #205, Rhett #345 — Peter higher
- 2020s: Peter #205, Rhett #164 — Rhett higher
Peter stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Rhett took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Peter | Rhett |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #38 | — |
| 1890s | #50 | — |
| 1900s | #58 | — |
| 1910s | #51 | #3981 |
| 1920s | #58 | #4263 |
| 1930s | #56 | #2873 |
| 1940s | #39 | #1516 |
| 1950s | #38 | #1093 |
| 1960s | #41 | #779 |
| 1970s | #51 | #675 |
| 1980s | #60 | #742 |
| 1990s | #90 | #731 |
| 2000s | #156 | #689 |
| 2010s | #205 | #345 |
| 2020s | #205 | #164 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Peter
a rock
Greek, and the sense is not in dispute. The name is a translation of an Aramaic nickname rather than a borrowing of it, which is unusual: most names cross languages by sound rather than by meaning.
Kephas → Petros → Peter
How it traveled
A seabird may be named after him. Storm petrels are small ocean birds that feed by fluttering just above the surface with their feet pattering on the water, so that they appear to be walking on it, and the usual explanation of the name is that sailors called them little Peters after the gospel account.
Rhett
advice, counsel
Rhett is an Anglicized spelling of the Dutch surname de Raedt, from raad, "advice" or "counsel." The showy rh- is an English respelling, not a Greek root — it looks like rhythm and rhyme, but it is unrelated to them.
raad (Dutch, "advice") → de Raedt → Rhett
How it traveled
The name comes from the Dutch surname de Raedt, reshaped in English as Rhett. It took hold in colonial South Carolina, where William Rhett (1666–1722) served as a colonial official and is remembered for capturing the pirate Stede Bonnet off the Carolina coast; the nineteenth-century politician Robert Barnwell Rhett belonged to the same Charleston family line.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Peter
PEE-tur
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The spelling is entirely unambiguous and the name is never mispronounced in English.
- Pete — The dominant short form and completely established on its own.
- Petey — An affectionate ending; warm and firmly of childhood.
Rhett
RET
One syllable, rhyming with "bet." The h is silent — the rh- is purely a spelling convention.
Who has carried each name
Peter
Peter Jackson (b. 1961) — Directed The Lord of the Rings
Peter O'Toole (b. 1932) — Lawrence of Arabia himself
Peter Higgs (b. 1929) — The physicist behind the Higgs boson
Rhett
No documented entry for Rhett yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Peter if you want…
- a name on the way upup 28 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itPeter runs 2 syllables, Rhett 1
- plenty of nickname options2 recorded short forms — Pete and Petey
- a long American recordPeter was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Rhett if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsRhett is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesRhett is 1 syllable to Peter's 2
- a name that stays wholeno recorded short form for Rhett
- a newer arrivalRhett entered the US charts in 1917
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Peter
Strengths
- It is recognized in every European language with minimal change.
- The meaning is concrete, solid and easy to explain to a child.
- It has been in continuous use for as long as records exist.
To consider
- Its peak was very early and the name carries some of that age.
- Pete is common enough that the full form may rarely be used.
- The record holds girls as well, and the girl is much the smaller side.
Rhett
Strengths
- One syllable with a hard final consonant, so it stays clear when called across a room and sits easily in front of longer surnames.
- Documented as a family name in colonial South Carolina, giving it a paper trail well before it became a first name.
- Familiar to almost everyone through Gone with the Wind, so people recognize it even when they have never met one.
To consider
- The silent h invites misspelling. Expect Rett and Ret on forms and name tags, and a lifetime of spelling it out over the phone.
- The Gone with the Wind link is unavoidable, and that novel's romanticized picture of the antebellum South draws real criticism now. Some people hear the character first; others hear nothing but the name.
- At one syllable it offers essentially no short form, so what you write on the birth certificate is what gets used every day.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Peter
12%chance Peter feels dated by 2040
Peter has held the top-100 across 12 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Rhett
40%chance Rhett feels dated by 2040
Rhett sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Peter and Rhett in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Peter and Rhett?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Peter and Rhett — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Peter or Rhett — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Peter or Rhett?
- Peter, in 2025: Peter ranked #187 with 1,954 babies; Rhett ranked #188 with 1,936 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Peter or Rhett?
- Peter. Over the last five years Peter moved up 28 places; Rhett moved down 29 places.
- Which is the older name, Peter or Rhett?
- Peter was already in use when US records began in 1880; Rhett entered the US charts in 1917. On the American record, Peter is the older name.
- How many people are named Peter and Rhett?
- About 399,000 people named Peter are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 35,500 people named Rhett are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Peters or Rhetts in the classroom?
- Peter will almost certainly be the only one in school. Rhett will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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